Longtime NFL assistant coach and defensive mastermind Monte Kiffin dies at age 84
Monte Kiffin, the longtime NFL and college assistant coach whose Tampa Bay defenses routinely ranked among the league’s best, died Thursday
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Monte Kiffin, the longtime NFL and college assistant coach whose Tampa Bay defenses routinely ranked among the league’s best, died Thursday. He was 84.
One of the architects of the ultra successful Tampa 2 defensive scheme, Kiffin spent 13 seasons as defensive coordinator of the Bucs under former coaches Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden from 1996 to 2008 and helped the franchise win the first of its two Super Bowl titles.
The University of Mississippi football program announced on the social media platform X that Kiffin, once the head coach at North Carolina State, died surrounded by family and friends in Oxford, Mississippi, where Kiffin’s son, Lane, is coach of the Rebels.
“As a coach, Monte was a true innovator who got the best out of his players and helped create one of the signature defenses of the early 2000s,” the Glazer family, which owns the Buccaneers and inducted Kiffin into the team’s Ring of Honor three years ago, said in a statement.
